Resigning on Monday, back in office on Friday. Emmanuel Macron decided to reappoint Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister on Friday, October 10, just four days after accepting his resignation, despite warnings from his allies and hostility from the opposition parties.

Lecornu, the former armed forces minister, agreed to return to the premiership "out of duty," though he had, in fact, never really left. While he promised to "do everything possible to give France a budget by the end of the year," he also set out his conditions. They were accepted by the president, who has "given the prime minister carte blanche," a source in his entourage said on Friday evening, leaving him free both in terms of "negotiations" on substantive issues with political parties and on "proposals for appointments."

Drawing lessons from the talks he conducted over recent weeks, Lecornu now pledged to put "all the issues discussed during the recent consultations" to Parliament for debate. This includes the highly controversial 2023 pension reform, a point which the Parti Socialiste (PS, left) had insisted on during the discussions. "It's a matter of trust with our counterparts," a source in his office said.

You have 87.15% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.